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The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped structure made of stones. It is approximately 15 m (49 ft 3 in) high with sides measuring 12 m (39 ft 4 in) × 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) wide [89] (Hawting states 10 m (32 ft 10 in). [90] Inside the Kaaba, the floor is made of marble and limestone. The interior walls are clad with tiled, white marble halfway to the roof ...
The Black Stone was held in reverence well before Islam. It had long been associated with the Kaaba, which was built in the pre-Islamic period and was a site of pilgrimage of Nabataeans who visited the shrine once a year to perform their pilgrimage. The Kaaba held 360 idols of the Meccan gods.
Archaeologically, just one Nabataean inscription mentions 'Hubal', as an epithet for the god Dushara. Other Muslim sources also represent Hubal being venerated in the Kaaba alongside lesser deities and baetyls. [11] Al-Kalbi also describes three pre-Islamic sanctuaries called a "Kaaba" other than the one located at Mecca. [12]
A typical Kaaba building is shaped like a cube or block and functions as a place for the devotees of a particular god or goddess to worship in. [1] [2] The name "Kaaba" was used by ancient Arabians to describe and label these sites because of their resemblance to the Kaaba at Mecca and the purpose of doing pilgrimage to them.
Dhul Khalasa is a god worshipped by the Bajila and the Khath'am tribes, and was reportedly worshipped as a "god of redemption". His temple became known as the Kaaba of Yemen. Attested: Dhu Samawi: Dhu Samawi, literally "the Heavenly One", is a god who probably originated from northern Arabia, but also found worship in south Arabia.
In Arabian mythology, Hubal (Arabic: هُبَل) was a god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably by the Quraysh at the Kaaba in Mecca. The god's icon was a human figure believed to control acts of divination, which was performed by tossing arrows before the statue. The direction in which the arrows pointed answered questions asked to Hubal.
Islamic tradition identifies Bakkah as the ancient name for the site of Mecca. [1] [6] [7] [8] An Arabic word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure.[3]One meaning ascribed to it is "narrow", seen as descriptive of the area in which the valley of the holy places and the city of Mecca are located, pressed in upon as they are by mountains. [6]
The Kaaba was originally intended as a symbolic house for the one monotheistic God. However, according to Islamic mythology, after Ibrahim's death, people started to fill the Kaaba with "pagan idols". When Muhammad conquered Mecca after his exile, he removed the idols from the Kaaba. [83] [84] The inside of the Kaaba is now empty. [85]